When young Alex Finnell was challenged by his parents to design an “age in place” home for them and his 95-year old grandmother, he set about helping them to achieve their goal of living in their own home late into their retirement years while being as safe, independent, and comfortable as possible.

Recently rededicated following almost two years in construction, the 95-year old Wayne S. Aspinall Federal Building and Courthouse in Grand Junction, Colorado has seen the last of its transformations by the U.S. General Services Administration. Building systems performance will be measured and verified against energy targets by project architect, Westlake Reed Leskosky (WRL), for one year, beginning in April 2013, in hopes of achieving LEED Platinum status and becoming the National Register of Historic Places’ first net-zero-energy building.

The historic Exploratorium, a science museum in San Francisco, California, has been working on its $300 million project to relocate from the Palace of Fine Arts to Piers 15 and 17 at the heart of the Bay Area’s waterfront Embarcadero. It is the first major development to be undertaken on the waterfront since the San Francisco Giants’ ballpark was built over a decade ago.

This 3,600 square feet home in Leon Springs, Texas is LEED Platinum-certified and features several affordable green building strategies that contribute to its net-zero water use. The homeowners asked architect Karla Greer (of Lake Flato Architects of San Antonio, Texas) for a sustainable home that celebrated nature and provided space for entertaining and energy-efficient living.

Designed for private investor, Craig Ehrlich, by John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects, this 1,150 square foot single-family home was built on a lot that is adjacent to the Ehrlich family home that was designed by the same firm about ten years ago, which was built around a garden and featured a graywater recycling system, photovoltaic system, and radiant heating.

The recently opened Dubai Energy and Water Authority’s (DEWA) Sustainable Building in Dubai has been awarded LEED Platinum status, becoming the largest public sector building in the world to achieve that status and set a new standard in sustainable building construction. It is also the United Arab Emirates’ first public sector green building, was constructed with 36 percent recycled materials, features high-efficiency insulation, and has been designed to reduce water consumption by 48 percent and energy consumption by 66 percent.